Every time I think I’ve had my fill of Lego adventures, TT Games goes out and obtains a license to another beloved pop culture franchise and I get sucked back in for another 15 or 20 hours of bashing plastic bad guys, solving contextual puzzles, collecting studs, and unlocking scads of familiar minifigure characters.

Not that I’m complaining.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes – out now on pretty much every platform that plays games (it’s also coming to next-generation consoles next month) – does more of what this series does best by mixing the Lego games’ trademark all-ages action with iconic characters and locations from a much adored fictional world — in this case, the Marvel universe.

That’s all the excuse I needed to plop my daughter on the couch beside me and spend a weekend busting some super villain brickheads.

The special genius in this particular Lego outing doesn’t lie in design – the action generally feels like that of the dozen or so Lego games that have come before – but rather in how ambitious TT Games was in trying to cram in so much of the Marvel comics experience.

You’ll get to play as all of the Avengers from last year’s film, as well as the Fantastic Four, select members of the X-Men, Spider-Man, and more while exploring familiar locations ranging from Tony Stark’s tower in New York, to Mr. Fantastic’s high-tech labs, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.

I was engaged within seconds of starting the first mission, a battle waged through the Big Apple against the Sandman. I started off as the Hulk, a hugely satisfying hero who likes to grab enemies and whip them back and forth, repeatedly slamming them on the ground while yelling “HULK SMASH!” in an almost alarmingly intense, beast-like fashion. Then I jumped into Iron Man’s suit and began rocketing around in the air, shooting missiles and energy blasts from his hands. Spider-Man shows up in the first mission, too, his web-slinging abilities giving players the power to swing through the air and grab and pull objects from a distance.

The variety within this first mission is a portent of things to come. Nearly every level introduces new characters, each in possession of defining abilities — like Wolverine’s claws and Mr. Fanatstic’s power to stretch and flatten himself.

As with most other pop culture-infused Lego games, this one hits all the right notes does a fine job of staying true to its source material. With each new hero devout Marvel fans get to experience little shivers of glee via knowing jokes exchanged between heroes.

The folks at TT Games are clearly fans of Marvel’s roster of characters, and it shows in the game.

But as much love as TT Games pours into its Lego games, It’d be nice if they’d fix some of their lingering problems.

For starters, I’m still a bit shocked at how easy it is to get stuck in these games.

I’m talking both about literally getting stuck within the environment so that you need to quit and revert to your last checkpoint — this happened several times when my playing partner threw a switch that moved something in the environment that blocked me or locked me in place — as well as becoming stuck in terms of figuring out how to proceed.

The latter has been a problem in every Lego game I’ve played. There are times when I find myself running around a small enclosed environment for what seems like forever looking for something to break or interact with that will make it possible to keep moving forward.

It’s a simple lack of information that could be easily remedied via some basic audio, visual, or text cue that pops up when the game detects players aren’t making forward progress. Just little hints as to where focus should be shifted or which hero needs to step up to do something.

I’m also a bit disappointed in how the open world elements in these games remain something less than fully formed.

As in games like Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and Lego The Lord of the Rings, players can explore the world outside of the main missions – including a bright and shiny take on New York City – looking for distractions such as races and folks who need a little help.

Thing is, the characters and vehicles in Lego games are meant to be controlled within the tight and narrow confines of mission levels, not the world at large. Set loose in a free-to-roam Manhattan, their movements just don’t feel right. Flying is funky, and driving vehicles is more frustration than it’s worth.

If you really want to play an open world Lego game, you’d do better sticking with Lego City Undercover on Wii U. It may not have the appeal of the film parody Lego games, but it’s the only one that was designed as a sandbox game from the bottom up, and it shows in its spacious world, task design, and vehicle handling.

In games like Lego Marvel Super Heroes the sandbox play feels tacked on and isn’t nearly as satisfying as the main missions. Thankfully, it’s pretty much skippable.

The reason Lego games have and continue to be a mainstay in the family friendly games space is because TT Games’ writers and designers know, love, and respect the brands they work with. They get what’s special about these franchises, and fans and players see it in their games.

From Agent Coulson ribbing Wolverine about his regenerative capabilities upon respawning to Bruce Banner talking about why his pants don’t rip and come off when he transforms into the Hulk, there are plenty of gags here that will make Marvel fans of all ages chuckle aloud. Few other game franchises manage to engage parents and kids on such equal terms.

So long as TT Games doesn’t run out of iconic source material – and given the scope and constant growth of our modern pop culture I don’t think there’s much chance of that – I think we can expect to see Lego games continue well into the coming generation of hardware.